Designing for Wiser Action

Process

Designing good process flow is an art. What is the need? What is the purpose? Who is the group? What methods will most support the group into wise action? What kind of harvest will serve this wise action?These are questions a host needs to be able to work with.

The Designing for Wiser Action process was created to give humans – process practitioners an opportunity to ask for help and the rest of us an opportunity to practice both design and generosity.

PurposeTo enable some of us to get support and wise advice about the upcoming concrete processes we need to host and the rest of us to put what we’ve learned about Art of Hosting and its methods to work on real life events.

Roles

One or two Hosts: Introduce the process to the group, host the callers into clarityprior to the process (and you may need to challenge them to name a concreteproject with a clear purpose), and host the full group process

Caller: Is the person who wants helps on becoming clear and crafting focus,design and practice in action, applied to a particular event or events.

Co-designers: Are the people who help with the first brush strokes of co-creatingdesign. This is a practice of generosity.

Full group: Work with all elements from our practice in a practical way, so theyall manifest in the process being designed and make Art of Hosting as helpful aspossible and easier to grasp.

Resource team: If there are more seasoned hosts and a good sized group ofparticipants, they may want to act as a resource team, bumble-beeing betweenteams to give additional support.

Criteria to become a caller and get help:

You have decided to host a process/meeting where Art of Hosting & Harvestingpractice can be helpful. You are a caller.

There is a first level of clarity around the need and purpose. Why does this eventneed to happen?

The process needs involve and serve more people than yourself. Who isinvolved? How many others?

The event will be happening within the next year. When? What is the wisetiming of this?

What is your initial sense of forms/methodologies? What is it – one meeting? Aseries of meetings?

How is this needing to unfold? Is it a hosting team hosting one meeting, are youneeding to train many people to train others?

Stages of the process

Make an invitation to those who want to be callers. Invitation is made to people so they can ask for help to design the process they want to host. Work with those who want to step in to get clear about their intention. This process needs a concrete project to work with, rather than a vague intention still being shaped. The project needs to be happening from one day to one year in the future. If you are using this during an AoH training, make sure to invite callers at least the night before the process will be hosted. Introduce the process. Why is it important to be skilful in the work you do and why is it important to ask for help in designing your process?

Conditions for self-organising – a powerful triangle

Clarity of need and purpose is the invisible leader…and creates a natural centre for the work. As a caller, become as clear as possible. The clearer you are, the more others can help you. At very least, you will be hosting a clear process to find the purpose.

Respectful relationships. Being in good relationship with your self and others helps. If you are in good relationship with your self you can have good relationships with others. Then you will enjoy and benefit from the diversity of others. It does not mean that you have to agree on everything - but even if you disagree you can still be in respectful relationship and focus on getting the work done.

Acting more wisely for the world. Good work should always yields real results. The Hopi Indians say “Will it grown corn for the people?”. What are your actions going to create that will be useful for your world?

Introduce the projects. Gather the callers in a circle at the centre of the group. Ask each of the callers to introduce their project briefly for 2 minutes. Each of the callers then stands in the room and others go to join them. Remind the group this is a time to practice generosity – next time it might be you!

Introduce how we will be working. Show the guiding questions and the harvesting templates. Each group will move to its own table or room. Warn the callers not to spend so much time on introducing your project that there is no time to work on it!

Step through the questions the groups will be working with and suggest that the group uses Post It notes on the template because the peer coaching process might change your perspective and you will need to move things around. Be careful not to get stuck – keep the process moving and keep harvesting clarity!

We start in our teams with the caller introducing the project briefly.

Work together for the first period of time. Host and stewards may be available togive input and support or help you get unstuck if needed.

Teams will meet together for a peer coaching session. Each group will work withanother group to sharpen their design.

Then there will be a period of integrating and refining back in the groups.

Finally we will come back together and hear some next steps.

You will stay in the same teams for the entire time, so we can get some goodwork done.

Tools to get the work done

Guiding questions

Harvesting template

A good work space

Timing (optimal timing 3 - 4 hours)

Introducing the process/hearing from the callers/forming groups around thecallers (30 min)

Working in teams supporting the callers on their projects (1.5 hours min)